he also faces four separate firearm charges in addition to the attempted assassination charge. hernandez was arrested last november and initially charged with firing several rifle rounds at the white house. a lawyer representing him says his client will plead not guilty to all the charges. new from overnight, investigators are trying to figure out what caused a row house fire in the district. this fire broke out in the 4200 block of foote street northeast before 1:00 this morning. officials say the fire started in the second-floor bathroom. they say the home was undergoing renovations. no one was inside at the time of the fire, but the family next door was forced out of their home. 4:30 now. time to get a first look at the forecast. are those low-hanging clouds covering the top of the washington monument? >> yeah, they'll be getting lower as the morning goes on. visibilities are not bad. in the metro area. but areas north and west of washington, montgomery county, frederick county, maryland, howard county, up toward the

pennsylvania border, some locations, visibilities are down to a quarter mile with the fog. elsewhere, the fog not as bad this morning. there's a live view from the city camera. we can see the very tippy top of the washington monument. and those low clouds, though, may be dropping down a little as the morning progresses over the next couple of hours. we'll get sunshine breaking out. 43 now at reagan national with a light wind. and elsewhere, we are all above freezing in the mid to upper 30s throughout most of western maryland and into west virginia and the panhandle of west virginia. but the shenandoah valley, upper 30s, near 40. the blue ridge east generally in the low to mid 40s most locations. it's near 50 in southern maryland, northern neck, and the lower eastern shore. and over the last 12 hours, we've had the cloud cover breaking up to the west. and we ought to get sunshine breaking out as the morning progresses. here's your day planner. sunrise at 7:21. we may see a little sun around sunrise. a partly cloudy morning. the fog dissipating. then lots of sun into the afternoon, near 50 by noontime.

actually hit mid 50s by 1:00, 2:00 or so, then back to the upper 40s by around sunset late this afternoon and early this evening. a look at the evening planner in ten minutes. danella, good morning, how's traffic? good morning. so far the area looks nice if you're about to head on to the roadways right now. i got to warn you, seeing fog in areas, especially along i-270. this is a look at father hurley. i know it's difficult to see. as you're traveling southbound to the spur, no issues. and northbound, as well, you're in the clear. just be careful. you are going to see fog in some areas. traveling on i-95 in virginia, this is the view at fairfax county heading north. no issues. travel lanes are open. looking good also on 395. in fact, clear across the 14th street bridge. i'm back in ten minutes with another look at your traffic. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks. president obama is putting the final touches on his third state of the union address. with his re-election campaign underway, the speech will focus on the economy. he'll also touch on

manufacturing, clean energy, education, and american values. as one of her last acts as a member of congress, gabrielle giffords along with her husband mark kelly will watch the speech from the first lady's box. indiana governor mitch daniels will deliver the gop response. herman cain will deliver the tea party's response. you can watch the state of the union address tonight at 9:00 right here on nbc 4. this morning we're getting a first look at the finances of mitt romney as he tries to stay ahead in the gop nomination race after this weekend's defeat in south carolina. the former governor released his 2010 tax returns just after midnight. they show that he made more than $21 million in incomes last year and paid just over $3 million in taxes. that's a tax cut rate of 14%, less than half of what challenger newt gingrich paid. romney says his taxes became a distraction in south carolina, and he says it was a mistake not to have released them earlier. just two days after his

12-point loss to newt gingrich in the south's first primary, mitt romney took a much more combative tone at the first debate in florida. >> i'm going to point out things i think people need to know. >> you ought to look at the facts. >> romney attacked gingrich for what he called a lack of leadership as speaker of the house and called him a "influence pedlar." he also took heat from gingrich who came close to kaucalling th former governor a liar. >> it's about leader. the former speaker was given the opportunity to lead in 1994, and he had to resign in disgrace. >> this is the worth of trivial politics. he said at least four things that are false. we have an ad that john mccain and mike huckabee say as much they think mitt romney can't tell the truth. >> it harsh words will likely continue until florida's primary a week from today. tens of millions of dollars have been spent by the candidates and pacs in tv attack ads in the

state. newt gingrich has chipped away at mitt romney's numbers. many in florida put the former house speaker ahead of romney with 41%. mitt romney got 23%, paul with 13%, santorum with 11%. there's a virtual tie for the lead on line. 32% backed romney, 28 backed gingrich. paul and santorum followed. this morning a former cia officer is accused of repeatedly leaking classified secrets to reporters. authorities arrested john kiraku. he told reporters he took part in a terrorist investigation. she accused of violating the espionage act. prosecutors say the information included the identity of a covert cia officer and the name of a cia employee who interrogated zabada.

kiraku is out of jail after posting bond. the department of veterans affairs has discovered several problems at military cemeteries across the country. that's according to the "washington post." in comes after an investigation revealed widespread burial problems at arlington national cemetery. a report from arlington claimed thousands of graves were misidentified or misplaced. this new v.a. investigation says there are dozens of misplaced headstones and at least eight cases of people buried in the wrong place at national burial grounds in texas, ohio, new mexico, new jersey, maryland, and pennsylvania. most of the problems are blamed on sloppy renovation work. 4:36. this morning, family and friends are mourning the loss of a loved one struck and killed in the parking lot of an elementary school in prince george's county. police say a driver in a maintenance van backed over 48-year-old bernet tucker may at samuel chase elementary school yesterday morning. her family tells news4 she was walking to the bus stop to visit

her father. her daughter is tameka butler. >> heartbroken. i lost my best friend. breaks my heart that my mother had to die like that. >> no students were on campus at the time because it was a school holiday. the driver is cooperating with police. no charges have been filed. prince george's county police are investigating the circumstances behind the murder/suicide of a young couple in laurel. police were called to their apartment at bramble court sunday for reports of shots fired. when officers showed up, they found 19-year-old airess beard and adam ausley shot. they both died. it appears ausley turned the gun on himself after shooting his girlfriend. thousands for and against bargz rights gathered outside -- abortion rights gathered outside the supreme court. roe vs. wade legalized abortion

34 years ago. there was a candlelight vigil. earlier, tens of thousands marched on the capitol and at the supreme court to protest the decision. relief is on the way for metro riders tired of broken up broken escalators at the dupont circle station. the relief comes with some inconvenience. mother is getting ready to close the north entrance at the dupont circle metro station on 19th street northwest. crews will replace all three escalators there. the north entrance will close on february 1, and it will remain closed for up to 8 1/2 months while crews tear out and install new escalators. during that time, riders will will have to enter and exit using the south entrance on q street northwest. 4:38 now. 34 degrees outside. ahead on "news4 today," no fan of the tsa. the dispute with airport security that had one u.s. senator missing his flight back to d.c. picking up the pieces. the damage left across the south after a day of deadly tornadoes.

a damp, cold start to the day. that's damp with a "p." the warmup is on the way.

weather & traffic on the 1s, 4:41 on this tuesday morning. good morning, i'm tom kierein in storm center 4. off to a chilly start. it's damp. and we have some patchy, dense fog across parts of virginia and maryland. temperatures most locations including montgomery, arlington,

fairfax, prince george's counties and the district in the low to mid 40s this morning. certainly is warmer. and as we look at what's been happening the last 12 hours, we have quite a bit of cloudiness around. the clouds should break up as the morning moves on and fog will dissipate early. we should get sunshine breaking out this morning. in the afternoon, temperatures climbing to the low to mid 50s for a brief time. sunrise, 7:21. sunset at 5:20. a clear sky tonight. by midnight, down into the low 40s. cooler weather moving in for tomorrow. we'll look at that, the rest of the week and weekend in ten minutes. how's traffic? good morning, so far quiet on the roadways. if you're traveling the beltway in prince george's county making your way past ritchie marlboro road, volume on the inner loop and outer loop on your commute light in both directions. if you continue in prince george's county crossing over the wilson bridge and heading into virginia, here's a live look at van dorn street. again, in this area, no problems on the beltway in virginia. i'll give you a travel speed.

on the inner loop, 63 miles per hour. not bad at all. i-66 looks good, as well. this is a view at waples mill road. east and west on i-66, no major delays, and no accidents to report at this time. i'm back in ten with another look at traffic. back to you. >> danella, thank you very much. 4:43. 44 degrees. still to come, skipping his trip to the white house, why one member of the winning boston bruins was a no show when the team met president obama. plus, preparing for its final flight. when you can see space shuttle "discovery" over the s

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submerged ship. they think it's from the lighter machine oil that runs the equipment on board. the "costa concordia" hit a reef almost two weeks ago. 17 people are still missing including a couple from minnesota. search crews found two bodies yesterday, bringing the number of those recovered now to 15. in the day ahead, the governor of alabama will survey the damage after at least two tornadoes killed two people and injured more than 100. the twisters also destroyed more than 200 homes across the heart of alabama. the storm hit early monday while most people were asleep. many were not prepared for tornadoes in january. >> we were anticipating more of having to be ready for ice or snow or frozen rain. not tornadoes. >> rescuers spent the day going from house to house searching for people trapped in their homes. now they will begin cleaning up. a three-day public memorial begins today for the late legendary penn state university coach, joe paterno. events start with a ten-hour

viewing today at the spiritual center on campus. paterno died on sunday, less than three months after doctors diagnosed the 85-year-old with lung cancer. he was dismissed from penn state after his long-time former defensive coordinator jerry sandusky was accused of sexually abusing several young boys. president obama has offered his condolences to the paterno family saying he and the first lady would keep them in their prayers. kentucky senator rand paul says he was detained by airport security in nashville while on his way to washington. tsa agents stopped the republican after they found something unusual near his knee. agents escorted paul out of the screening area because he refused a pat-down. >> it's not because of who i am. americans are being subjected to these indignities every day. nobody's thinking about who would attack us. >> the white house says airport security acted appropriately. paul missed his flight but was able to get on a later one. the senator is the son of

congressman ron paul, who is running for president. in one of the first rulings of the year, the supreme court unanimously agreed that police need a search warrant to track a suspect with a gps device. the ruling comes after a hearing on an appeal in november from a d.c. man convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. d.c. police attached a gps tracking system to his jeep, following his movement. the federal appeals court overturned the decision and the supreme court agreed. there will be a proposed increase in a flush tax. governor o'malley revealed it last night. it would pay for upgrating waste water treatment facilities and reduce pollution in the chesapeake bay. fees would go up $5 a month on sewer bills. right now the average is $2.50 a month. this morning you may want to put away your smartphones and ipads while walking in the

streets of washington. d.c. police chief lanier says street robbers are after the high-tech devices. she talked with a packed audience at shepherd elementary school in northwest washington. she said many of the recent street crimes have something in common -- thieves stealing victims' mobile devices. >> this is not only nationwide. it's been a problem in other countries. smartphones, small, mobile devices. primarily smartphone technology which is very popular, can be resold quickly on the black market. >> law enforcement officials from montgomery county and prince george's county who represent the neighborhoods near ward 4's border also attended the meeting. the smithsonian's national air and space museum is preparing to welcome the space shuttle discovery to its collection. this is video of "discovery's" last liftoff. the smithsonian says the shuttle will be flown to dulles national airport on the back of a boeing 747 in april before arriving at its final home in the museum's massive hangar in northern

virginia. "discovery" will fly over d.c. the flyover is planned for april 17. a formal welcome ceremony will be held april 19. should be quite a sight to see. >> cool. this morning, some fairfax county parents want to know why their children had to go to school on time when the federal government had a weather delay. the government announced a two-hour delay sunday night when the forecast called for possibly icy roads for the monday morning commute. yesterday morning that forecast changed, and fairfax county officials felt the late start of schools was not necessary. parents feel there was a disconnect in the area heavily populated with federal workers. >> i was surprised. i was watching the news early in the morning to see who may have been delayed and who wasn't. and i kind of -- i think the decision was right in fairfax county. but it did make me wonder with the government delay why that was. >> parents are hoping for better coordination as communication improves between the government and local jurisdictions.

i guess a lot of kids driving their parents to work yesterday. >> it can be confusing if they change their mind from overnight, you know, for parents who are scrambling to figure out childcare and stuff. >> it's con dpfusing if the government's delayed and school's on time. no delays today, tom? >> a little bit. a little fog, but no iciness or freezing temperatures. good morning, right now under a cloudy sky. we have a little patchy, dense fog scattered around the region. watch out for that. right now, no visibility problems in washington. there's capitol hill way off in the distance along the banks of the potomac river at reagan national, at 43 now with a south/southwesterly light breeze. elsewhere, temperatures are in the low and mid 40s. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's counties. and parts of far southern maryland, northern neck, lower eastern shore near 50 degrees now. farther north and west, though, in the upper 30s. most locations above freezing. martinsburg at 32. watch out, there may be a few icy spots there. elsewhere, shenandoah valley, upper 30s to near 40. some of the high spots in west

virginia already in the 40s to near 50 degrees. we still have quite a bit of low cloudsiness around and patchy fog across northern virginia, maryland, and on the eastern shore. there's a few sprinkles east of cambridge. the cloud cover beginning to break up to the west. should give us some sunshine by later this morning. sunrise at 7:21. by noontime with the sunshine breaking out, it will be near 50 degrees. then hitting the low to mid 50s this afternoon. and whatever little bit of snow is left over is going to be certainly melted. and overnight tonight, clear, down into the low 40s by midnight. by dawn tomorrow, we'll be down to near 30 degrees. we may have a freeze tomorrow morning. and then sunshine in the morning giving way to clouds in the afternoon. highs in the mid 40s tomorrow. looks like rain may be developing on thursday, especially midday during the afternoon and evening. may linger into midday on friday. then drying out friday afternoon. here's a look at the weekend. saturday, sunshine, highs upper 40s. colder weather begins to move in on sunday. quite a bit of cloudiness around. highs near 40. a cold day monday but sunny.

danella, how's traffic? seeing fog in some of the area. travel speeds look good across the board. on the beltway, making your way from i-95 to route 50, you're at 63 miles per hour. if you're traveling on route 50 heading from the beltway out to bowie, making your way to 301, you're at 58 minors. and on the dulles toll road -- miles per hour. and on the dulles toll road from hunter mill to the beltway, 55 miles per hour. in the district, i'm not seeing any issues. volume is light, as well as look at this -- nice and clear. this is new york avenue. 14th street. no issues to report at this time. i'm back in ten minutes with another look at traffic. joe and eun, back to you. >> should be dancing in the streets there. all right. well, when you turn the ball over the first time you touch it, you know it is going to be a tough night. the wizards lost their 15th game last night to the philadelphia 76ers, 103-83. the wizards were down by 19 by the end of the first quarter and by 30 in the half.

but they were able to cut the deficit a bit in the second half. jordan crawford led the team with 17 points. the wizards will try to get their third win of the season tomorrow against the charlotte bobcats. ouch. capitals store alex on,vich kin is on thin ice -- ovechkin is on thin ice. he was suspended three games for this hit. whoa -- against penguins' defenseman. that's pretty harsh punishment since ovechkin wasn't penalized on the play and the player wasn't hurt. the capitals franchise player will miss big games against boston and florida. he can return february 4 for the caps game against theom montrea canadiens. we're hearing from the hockey player who snubbed the white house. the boston bruins were invited to the white house to celebrate their 2011 stanley cup championship. the most valuable player, goalie tim thomas, chose to stay home. in a statement he said his decision was based on his belief that the federal government has

too much influence on americans' lives. thomas posted that message on his official facebook page, saying it was not about politics or a specific party because, "in my opinion, both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country." >> there you go. 4:55. 44 degrees. coming up, a trip to paradise is proving to be a hassle for some travelers. why kate middleton's trip is angering island tourists. preparing for hollywood's big night. we have a look t drama

today hollywood rolls out the red carpet for the 84th annual academy awards. the suspense surrounds new york times for the best picture. and new -- nominees for the best picture. and news, there will be between 50 and 100 nominees -- no. between five and ten nominees for best picture. the nominations will be announced live during the "today" show. and you can watch that right here on nbc 4. and then the oscars will be handed out february 26. the queen of soul, aretha franklin, called off her wedding to her long-time companion william wilkerson. the couple said things were "moving too fast," and she announced their engagement last month. she also said there were a number of things that had not

been thought through thoroughly. you say that, joe. no other details were provided. when we checked her facebook page, it opened with her album, "woman falling out of love." >> if things were thought through thoroughly, would anyone get married? probably. i hope so. >> i love how everything's announced on your facebook fan page. make your major anational endowments. this morning -- announcements. this morning, an islands of people with s speaking out against a royal visit. >> people on mustique are unhappy with all the security. guests at both of the island's hotels have been questioned by security while walking on the beach. tourists say security officers are taking extra measures to make sure that no pictures are taken of middleton and her family. prince william is expected to join them later this week one he finishes his royal air force dutyn